Gary Huff
1
COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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What framerates are listed by Atomos that the Blade supports?
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[Joe Marler] “s Jeff said, this is likely due to the inefficient 500 mbps MJPEG codec that Canon uses for 4k on the 5D Mark IV. “
Actually, the MJPEG codec is quite efficient as far as CPU decoding power. It’s roughly the equivalent of ProRes 422 (ProRes is based on MotionJPEG). However, it’s still 4K and thus requires more horsepower to decode than 1080.
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Do you think the quality of the footage looks poor?
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[Patrick Sheppard] “First let me say that I don’t understand the application/benefit of VFR. In fact I had to look it up to find out what it meant, and when I read the description of it I knew not much more than before. Why does that feature exist and what are its advantages?”
VFR just means you set a frame rate different than your base rate. So say your base rate is 23.98 fps. Your VFR might be 48. You’ll get a 23.98 fps file, but it was captured at 48fps, thus is half speed.
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[Patrick Sheppard] “So how about the new C200? Anyone have thoughts about the C200 vs. the C300 Mk II?”
Do you need touchscreen, Cine Raw Lite, 4Kp60, or VFR modes in 1080 60 fps without a crop? That’s what the C200 has over the C300 Mark II.
However, if you need a fully 10-bit internal camera (in both 1080 and 4K/UHD including the VFR modes) then the C300 Mark II is currently a better deal with the discount. The C200 is only 10-bit in 1080 going external to a recorder and only in 24, 30, and 60p. None of the VFR modes will be 10-bit ever because the camera won’t send this out over HDMI/SDI.
With 4K, it is 8-bit only save for 12-bit 24/30 and 10-bit 60p in Cine Raw Lite, and it will only be in DCI 4K. There is no UHD option. The C300 Mark II will output DCI 4K and UHD in raw over the Raw Out to an Odyssey or Shogun recorder. All 4K raw from the C200 will have to be cropped in post to 16:9.
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[Warren Marshall] “o you think a second camera (for capturing different angles) needs to have a full frame image sensor like the 5D? Is it essential?”
I don’t think it is essential at all. Can you tell the difference in DOF? What differences do you see between the two when they are filming together?
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[clyde villegas] “Now I’m wondering what will happen if I do that with the Sony a7s ii.”
If you don’t run the internal recording on the A7S II, it will work fine. That was always the solution for overheating for the stock bodies. You can record pretty much until you run out of power if you’re going externally only.
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[clyde villegas] “When you said that it’s unpredictable, is that even with an external battery supply (dc coupler to wall outlet) and with only 1080p internal recording?”
1080p is a different story. I can attest that, with the unlimited recording hack installed, I filmed 7 90-120 minute talks in 1080p30 without any issues. I was using the AC power adapter.
However, one thing to keep in mind when recording long takes like this in MP4…I was filming an hour long talk the same way and the AC power was disconnected on me unexpectedly (was using an extension cord). The MP4 was nearly impossible to recover and I almost lost the entire shoot. I was able to get it fixed thankfully, but it was not a fun process and I would not want to go through it again. I highly recommend filming in AVCHD or using battery/USB power combo if you can.
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The issue is that it is unpredictable, plus unless you install the hack, you’ll be limited to 30 minutes per clip.
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[Bob Cole] “Lens Need a parfocal zoom; would also like one or two fast primes. Willing to compromise speed for affordability/light weight (e.g. Sony 18-110, Canon 18-80). Need to assess E-mount vs. PL vs. EF.”
Both are good parafocal lenses, but only the Canon is optically parafocal. The Sony is faked via AF.
Price/resale value
Canon generally holds its value well, but the FS7 is trending pretty well on eBay as far as holding its value (C300 Mark I owners got screwed in this regard due to the massive price cut). BMD is probably the worst at holding value.
Viewfinder(s) (1) Need visibility in bright sunlight. (2) Option to focus at 1:1 pixels.
All of the viewfinders are pretty similar between those three cameras, though BMD’s is a separate purchase of $1500. Canon’s placement of theirs means it makes more sense with an Easy Rig as opposed to a shoulder mount, but for $6k you can add the one from the C700 and it is suitable for shoulder mounting.
Ease of use while shoulder-mounted Balance, weight, access to controls without looking.
Both the BMD Ursa Mini Pro and the FS7 II are good to go out of the box in this regard basically. The C300 Mark II is not well suited to shoulder mount operation without a lot of added accessories and weight, instead it’s better for an Easy Rig setup.
Recording media (1) Reliability and robustness. (2) Cost.
CFast is used by both the Ursa Mini Pro and the C300 Mark II (along with Alexa cameras). Sony uses proprietary XQD media, but it is currently in a massive price drop that has it nearly $200 cheaper than CFast.
Codec – universal appeal I edit about half of what I shoot; I need to be able to hand off material in a variety of formats, from 4K log to efficient, ready-to-edit HD.
BMD Ursa Mini Pro wins this hands down as it shoots ProRes in all flavors/modes. You can’t get much more universal than that. The FS7 II and C300 Mark II both shoot Intra H.264, which is a nicely compressed codec over ProRes (better quality, less space), though the FS7 II will record 1080 ProRes if you add the $2k XDCA unit.
As far as “ready-to-edit HD”, the BMD’s default Rec.709 look is okay, and the FS7 II could use a lot of picture profile tweaking. I have been very pleased with the straight out of the camera Rec.709 preset on the C300 Mark II and shoot in it a lot.
Low-light capability Is this the Ursa’s weak point? With Sony or Canon, the best solution might be two cameras, one of them a DSLR that could share a lens with the video camera.
The Ursa can introduce unwanted banding and fixed pixel noise issues at anything over 800 ISO. The C300 Mark II is the best in this regard, probably about 85-90% of the A7S up to 12,800. The FS7 II is probably half as clean as the C300 Mark II at higher ISOs.
Power consumption
The FS7 II wins as far as battery cost. C300 Mark II’s batteries put it on par with V-mount/AB battery costs, albeit much smaller. All of them seem to be good with power, especially given how hungry higher-end cameras like Red Epic-W and Alexa are.
“Finally: appropriateness. I do a large variety of jobs: environmental docs, corporate web videos, LOTS of interviews, run-and-gun b-reel, some broadcast. I would like to have a camera which the networks find acceptable but it’s not a necessity for my livelihood. “
All of these cameras are suitable. Networks will buy whatever they want, they may have a camera spec sheet, but if you have something they want, they aren’t going to suddenly turn it down because you didn’t shoot on the right camera.